Samuel Bois Smith (27 December 1756 – 20 October 1826) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and politician. He was appointed to the

Executive Council of Upper Canada The Executive Council of Upper Canada had a similar function to the Cabinet in England but was not responsible to the Legislative Assembly. Members of the Executive Council were not necessarily members of the Legislative Assembly but were usuall ...

and appointed

Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

. Smith was born in

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) on Long Island, in New York, United States. The town's combined population was 793,409 at the 2020 census. It occupies the s ...

, the son of Scottish immigrants (James Smith). In 1777, he joined the

Queen's Rangers The Queen's Rangers, also known as the Queen's American Rangers, and later Simcoe's Rangers, were a Loyalists fighting in the American Revolution, Loyalist military unit of the American Revolutionary War that specialized in cavalry tactics, clo ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. He surrendered to the Americans after the

Battle of Yorktown The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War. It was won decisively by the Continental Army, led by George Washington, with support from the Mar ...

. Smith moved with the Rangers to Queensbury Parish in the newly created colony of

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

where the Rangers were disbanded. Smith likely met his wife (a native of nearby Maugerville Parish) during this period and then moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1784 to continue his service in the

. He rose to the rank of captain and was sent to Niagara in 1791. He was promoted to the position of lieutenant-colonel of his old regiment (which was recreated in Upper Canada) in 1801 before retiring to 1,000 acres (4 km²) of land he had bought in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

and also in what is now in

Lakeview, Mississauga Lakeview is a neighbourhood in Mississauga in the Region of Peel, centred on Lakeshore Road in the extreme southeastern corner of the city, along the shore of Lake Ontario, between the larger neighbourhood of Port Credit to the west and the Lo ...

. Later some of this land was sold to

John Strachan John Strachan (; 12 April 1778 – 1 November 1867) was a notable figure in Upper Canada, an "elite member" of the Family Compact, and the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto. He is best known as a political bishop who held many government posit ...

for the original

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

campus, now

Trinity Bellwoods Park Trinity Bellwoods Park is a public park located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, bordered by Queen Street West on the south and Dundas Street on the north. The western boundary of the park is Crawford Street, several hundred feet before Crawford i ...

. Smith was appointed 30 November 1813 to the

for the town of Etobicoke. In 1817 he was sworn in as

of Upper Canada in the absence of

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Francis Gore Francis Gore, (1769 – 3 November 1852) was an English military officer and British colonial administrator in Bermuda and Upper Canada. Gore was born in Blackheath, London, England in 1769 the son of Francis Gore and Caroline Beresford ...

and served until 1818. He acted again as Administrator in the absence of Lieutenant Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland for three months in 1820. As Administrator, Smith was advised not grant land to American immigrants until they had taken the

oath of allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...

and resided in

for seven years. He decided to follow the advice of his Executive Council and not to remove title to the land from those who did not qualify. Smith was considered a weak official and was the target of complaints by both the reformer Robert Gourlay and the

Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today's Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...

member

, who thought him feeble, inept, and talentless. However, in April 1818, Smith ordered Gourlay arrested when he called an illegal assembly at York (now

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

). Smith retired from the Executive Council in October 1825. He died 20 October 1826 in York and left his wife and nine children. His son (Samuel B. Smith Jr.) was Clerk in the Executive Council of the Province of Canada and died in Toronto in 1882.

Legacy

The City of Toronto's Colonel Samuel Smith Park in

was created in the 1970s and opened in 1996 along

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

is named in his honour. The park lands was part of his property (known as Colonel Smith Tract). The Tract in

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

was inherited by his son Samuel and sold off by 1872 in what is now

Smith Estate

Following his death, his estate (on

Lake Shore Boulevard Lake Shore Boulevard (often incorrectly compounded as Lakeshore Boulevard) is a major arterial road running along more than half of the Lake Ontario waterfront in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Prior to 1998, two segments of Lake Shore ...

between 40th and 41st Streets across from Long Branch GO Station) was occupied by his son and later sold. The last owner of the home was James Eastwood and the home was demolished in 1952. It is now a residential community consisting of townhouses, detached homes and apartments.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Samuel 1756 births 1826 deaths British colonial army officers People from Long Island Lieutenant-governors of Upper Canada Canadian people of Scottish descent United Empire Loyalists British emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Immigrants to Upper Canada